I don't think you could win the argument about tax leakage, sir. We have the charts put forward by the Library of Parliament about exactly how this happens. We have a fairly good understanding of this.
As they say, the first casualty of war is the truth, and that's what I'm more concerned about. There's an unprecedented lobbyist campaign going on. I don't know who's paying for it, but some of the highest-priced lobbyists in the country sit there in the back rows of meetings like this with their meters going.
I can only assume that Mr. Boudria is not doing this because he's interested in income trusts.
There's an overwhelming lobby of self-interest going on here to hang onto this last tax refuge. We can't understand it as ordinary Canadians.
Even as a trade unionist who used to sit on a union pension investment fund.... Everybody knows that in the long run, it's bad. It's short-term gain for long-term pain. It sucks the lifeblood out of business.
If everything flows through to the unitholders, if the whole purpose is to suck all the profits to the unitholders and avoid paying taxes, who is going to reinvest, grow a company, and create jobs?